Topgrading Training

My Business Would Be So Much Easier If I Didn’t Have to Deal with People!

There are many challenges in the world of business, but getting the right people doing the right things consistently is the biggest issue for most CEOs and leaders.

I believe that most people have great intentions – then life and their own issues get in the way.

Close to a decade ago, when doing research for a book, I interviewed 50 CEOs around the world about what had made a difference in their ability to successfully scale their companies. Fascinatingly, eight of those CEOs strongly – and I mean evangelically passionately – talked about how a methodology called Topgrading™ was life-changing, to them and their companies.

It was their secret sauce to grow their companies because they had notably stronger people on their teams.

I’d heard of Topgrading, had studied it a little bit, and heard author Brad Smart speak about it. I thought it was interesting, but after the passionate endorsement of those CEOs, decided to dig deeper into the methodology myself.

So, I hired a certified Topgrading practitioners to train me, one-on-one – because I’m not good at sitting in a classroom for two days – and I found that many of my beliefs and assumptions about effective interviewing were deeply flawed. I quickly saw why a number of the key hires in which I was involved were successful. And why a whole bunch weren’t – why some candidates slipped through because of the way we approached hiring.

Read the Entire Book

It became clear that, following most hiring practices, we were judging a book too much by the cover or maybe the first few pages. No wonder only 20% to 30% of the people we hired turned out to be A-Players. And why we had so much pain, agony and drama dealing with the other 75%. A big distraction to growth and a drain on senior leaders.

The Topgrading methodology is about reading the entire book of a person – to fully understand the whole person rather than the image they are portraying. To truly get into the history, facts and details of who they are, how they operate, what they believe, and to assess and understand what they are good at – and not.

To be clear, this is not about whether or not they are a good person. It’s about determining if their natural strengths, beliefs and operating systems will match the jobs we have in the company.

That was a transformational day in my life and journey. Ever since, we’ve worked to get our clients to leverage the benefits of the Topgrading methodology.

Nothing in this world is perfect but for the clients who have committed to using this tool, we’ve found their success rates go from 25% or 30% to north of 70% and, in some cases, north of 90%.

Still not perfect but a heck of a lot better.

Topgrading Training

So, I’m excited to share that we are doing a two-day virtual Topgrading training session, with Chris Mursau, president of Topgrading. Chris is a master Topgrading professional, and great guy to spend time with.

For the past few years we did a live session for our clients and network to learn Topgrading together. This year, our team has been working with Chris Mursau on virtual sessions, which we’re pleased to bring to you, in the new year.

The training is designed for two or three people from your company to attend. This provides the best chance of implementing it and creating the changes you need.

If you’re not sure, watch our Topgrading webinar. Chris and I talk about what it takes to build a notably stronger team and how your hiring process can drive that.

Here are the details:

Topgrading Webinar – January 8, 2021

8:00 am to 9:00 am PST

Register for the webinar here        

A conversation with Kevin Lawrence & Chris Mursau:

• Meet Topgrading President Chris Mursau
• Learn about the benefits of Topgrading and how you can build a team of A-Players
• Learn how to improve the effectiveness of your hiring process and dramatically increase hiring a high performer, the first time.

Topgrading Virtual Workshop – Feb 2 & 3, 2021

7:30 am to 2:30 pm PST

Immerse yourself in the secrets, shortcuts and proven methods of Topgrading:

• Get hands-on experience conducting chronological interviews and creating thorough Job Scorecards
• Receive personal coaching from hiring expert and Topgrading President Chris Mursau
• Immerse yourself in the proven methods to hire high performers who will drive your company to succeed.

Following the Workshop, participants also receive:

• A complimentary 1-hour coaching call
• Access to an online tool kit
• A two-month free trial of Topgrading Online Solutions (TOLS).

For more information or register, please contact Janice Watkins at janice@lawrenceandco.com.